CFTC FILES A FRAUD ACTION AGAINST DAVID M. MOBLEY, SR., MARICOPA
INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT CORPORATION, ENSIGN TRADING CORPORATION, AND
OTHERS AND A PROPOSED CONSENT ORDER OF PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION AND STATUTORY
RESTRAINING ORDER

CFTC Complaint Alleges Defendants Carried Out A Multi-Million Dollar
Fraud On Investors In Funds Managed By Mobley and Entities He Owned And
Controlled; Defendants’ Alleged Fraudulent Scheme Included The
Concealment of Losses Incurring From Trading of Commodity Futures And
Options On Behalf Of A Commodity Pool

WASHINGTON – The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)
announced that it filed with the United States District Court for the
Southern District of New York a fraud
action against David M. Mobley, Sr. (Mobley) of Naples, Florida,
and various entities he owns and controls, including Maricopa
InternationalInvestmentCorporation d/b/a Maricopa
Investment Corp.;Maricopa Investment Fund, Ltd.; Maricopa Index
Hedge Fund, Ltd.; Maricopa Financial Corporation; Ensign Trading
Corporation; Iam, Inc and several relief defendants, which are all entities
owned or controlled by Mobley. The CFTC also filed a proposed order of
preliminary injunction and statutory restraining order, consented to by
Mobley on behalf of all the defendants, which, if entered by the court,
will freeze existing assets and preserve books and records. The case has
been assigned to the Honorable Robert Conway Casey.

The CFTC's action alleges that defendants carried out a multi-million
dollar fraud on investors in funds managed by Mobley and various entities
he owned and controlled. The complaint alleges that the fraudulent scheme
involved, among other things, management of a commodity pool and the
trading of commodity futures and options, in which substantial
commodities-related trading losses ultimately were both incurred and
concealed from investors. Specifically, the complaint alleges that
defendants, while acting as commodity pool operators, failed to disclose to
investors that their funds would be traded in commodity futures and
options; that Mobley caused certain defendants to issue reports to
investors that fraudulently overstated the profitability of their
investments while concealing the fact that substantial losses had resulted
from trading investor funds in commodity futures and options; and, that
Mobley misappropriated investor funds and converted them for his own use
and benefit. The complaint also alleges that Mobley is liable as a
controlling person for all other defendants' fraudulent acts and practices.
The complaint seeks a permanent injunction and an asset freeze, among other
relief.

Mobley, Sr. consented, on behalf of all defendants and relief
defendants, to an order of preliminary injunction and statutory restraining
order, which is now pending before the court. The proposed order would
freeze all of the defendants’ assets, pending a hearing on the
permanent injunction, and would preserve books and records and make them
available to the CFTC.

Phyllis J. Cela, Acting Director of Division of Enforcement, commented
that "this action demonstrates the importance of investors assuring
themselves that their investments are being handled by responsible persons
and being appropriately managed."

The CFTC Complaint Alleges Mobley Carried Out A $59 Million
Fraud

Specifically, the CFTC complaint alleges that Mobley conceived and
carried out a $59 million fraud on the investors in four funds he created
and managed: Maricopa Investment Fund, Ltd., Maricopa Index Hedge Fund,
Ensign Trading Corporation, and Maricopa Financial Corporation. As alleged,
Mobley claimed to have $450 million under management and told his investors
that he invested their funds primarily in major stock index products using
computer trading models he developed and to have achieved rates of return
averaging approximately 51 per cent per year, net of his management fee of
30 percent. As further alleged, he declined to have his funds audited,
explaining to investors that audits would risk divulging his secret and
highly profitable trading strategies.

In fact, as alleged, Mobley had no more than about $35 million under
management and his trading program was generally unprofitable. He allegedly
lost the bulk of the investors' funds through a series of failed business
ventures, and used investor funds to support a lavish lifestyle for himself
and his family and associates, including an expensive vacation home near
Vail, Colorado, sports cars, expensive jewelry, and trips on private
jets.

The complaint further alleges that Mobley estimates that since September
1992, more than 170 investors contributed a total of over $140 million into
his funds and that most of the investors were wealthy, though some were of
modest means and entrusted Mobley with their IRAs. The complaint also
alleges that only about $33 million of investor assets, including about $5
million in illiquid assets, appears to remain, and that net of prior
redemptions, which Mobley estimates at less than $48 million (and which
included substantial profits paid to the redeeming investors at the expense
of the remaining investors), total investor losses appear to exceed $59
million.

This action was filed with the substantial assistance of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation and coordinated with the filing of a related fraud
action by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.